Cesar Wants Perfection From a Side Already Above Scotland

Slovenia sit above Scotland in Nations League Group B1, but Bostjan Cesar still wants a fantastic 90 minutes at Hampden on 6 October.

His side have 4 points from three games, the same as Sebastien Pocognoli’s Scotland, and a better goal difference after a 0-0 draw in Ljubljana on 26 September. Cesar still talks as if the visitors are chasing a League A side, because last season they were.

Cesar Wants a Fantastic 90 Minutes

The 44-year-old, a former Slovenia and West Bromwich Albion centre-half with 102 caps, was appointed on 20 January 2026 after Matjaz Kek’s contract was not extended. He has already taken a point off Scotland and beaten North Macedonia 2-0. He still frames the trip to Glasgow as a night that will demand almost everything.

The way Scotland play, we need to be very disciplined and we need to have a fantastic 90 minutes to match them. We need to find a balance with our attack and defence, we need to be together defending our goal and we need to be successful in attack. That’s our wish and, if we are lucky, maybe we’ll succeed. But the defence has to be strong.

Bostjan Cesar, Slovenia head coach

Leeds United centre-half Jaka Bijol, who played the first meeting, pointed to the running and the fitness of Pocognoli’s team rather than to any gap on the table. “Coming to this stadium, it is going to be quite competitive because Scotland showed they are a good side,” he said. “Their style of football is such that it is going to be quite difficult for us, the way they run and with their fitness.”

Cesar also noted that Scotland played in League A in the last Nations League, then under Steve Clarke. That is true, and it is the line that makes his caution sound like respect. It is also the line that hides the present: Slovenia are the side in second.

Switzerland Are Five Points Clear

Murat Yakin’s Switzerland have won all three of their group games, scoring eight and conceding one. A 3-0 win in Skopje on 26 September was followed by a 3-0 win at Hampden on 29 September and a 2-1 home win over Slovenia on 3 October. The Nations League B group standings leave everyone else playing for what sits below them.

GROUP B1 AFTER THREE MATCHES

Scotland’s only win of the Pocognoli era came in Skopje on 3 October, Kieron Bowie after seven minutes and John McGinn from the spot in the 70th. Slovenia’s win was the 2-0 against North Macedonia in Ljubljana, Sandi Lovric on 55 minutes and Aljosa Matko on 82. Both then lost to Switzerland, which is why they are bunched on four points and why 6 October is a direct swap of second and third.

Kick-off in Glasgow is 19:45 BST, with José María Sánchez Martínez of Spain the referee. Switzerland host North Macedonia at the same hour in Lucerne. A Swiss win there would take Yakin’s side to 12 points and leave the Hampden result as a fight for the place behind them.

What Second Place Is Worth in March

Group winners in League B go straight up to League A for the 2028/29 season. Second is not a consolation prize. UEFA’s updated rules send the four League B runners-up into two-legged ties in March 2027 against sides finishing third or fourth in League A, with the higher-ranked league hosting the second leg.

That is the slot Slovenia currently hold and Scotland currently do not. Third in the group stays in League B when the competition is rebuilt into three leagues of 18. Fourth goes into relegation play-offs against League C runners-up. Cesar said he wants to “keep in the competition as long as we can,” which, under the new map, means holding second or winning the group, not simply avoiding North Macedonia’s fate.

HOW THE REST OF GROUP 1 RUNS

• 6 October: Scotland host Slovenia at Hampden; Switzerland host North Macedonia in Lucerne.
• 13 November: Scotland host North Macedonia; Slovenia host Switzerland in Ljubljana.
• 16 November: North Macedonia host Slovenia in Skopje; Switzerland host Scotland in St Gallen.

A home win on 6 October would take Scotland to seven points and drop Slovenia onto four with a trip to Skopje still to come. A Slovenia win would reverse that and leave Pocognoli’s side looking at North Macedonia at home and Switzerland away just to stay in the League B runners-up enter promotion play-offs picture. A draw would keep both on five and leave the November meetings with Switzerland as the decider.

Pocognoli Still Needs a First Hampden Win

The Belgian, appointed in August 2026 after Clarke’s seven years ended with a World Cup group-stage exit, is in his fourth match already. The first was the 0-0 in Ljubljana. The second was supposed to be his Hampden bow. Jack Hendry hauled down Dan Ndoye as the Switzerland forward ran through, the free-kick was given outside the box, and Ricardo Rodriguez scored in the 12th minute. Nico Elvedi added a second on 55 minutes and Zeki Amdouni a third on 82, in front of 41,028. Hendry is suspended for the Slovenia return.

Pocognoli refused to hang the night on one man. “The red card of Jack is all of our red card,” he said. The Skopje win repaired the result column. It did not give him a home win, and he treated the Slovenia rematch as the ranking game his debut window still lacks.

Tomorrow is an important game for the ranking. If you draw away, you have to deliver something at home. Tomorrow I just hope we keep creating chances. The reality is we have to win tomorrow and score goals.

Sebastien Pocognoli, Scotland head coach, Scottish FA MD-1 press conference

He also called it an important game for the ranking because a draw in Ljubljana, in his view, has to be cashed in at home. He said Slovenia have “a clear structure,” good movement and a good connection between players, and that they “did well against Switzerland” even in a 2-1 defeat in which Zan Vipotnik scored after two minutes. Findlay Curtis has been brought back from the under-21s for extra bodies. The finishing debate is the one that follows this team around: chances in Ljubljana, none of them taken, and a ranking that would look different if one had gone in.

Ljubljana Turned After the Break

Cesar’s caution is not empty manners. Scotland had the better of the first meeting once they sorted the press at half-time. Pocognoli called it “two games in one game.” Jan Oblak, Slovenia’s captain, became the night’s central figure after the interval, and the match data still reads like a home side hanging on.

THE FIRST MEETING IN LJUBLJANA

• The ball: Scotland had 65 percent of possession and 584 passes to Slovenia’s 322, with 496 of those passes completed.
• The chances: Scotland put five shots on target to Slovenia’s one and created two big chances to one.
• The keeper: Oblak made five saves; Scotland’s goalkeeper made one.
• The crowd: 12,182 were at Stozice Stadium, with Horațiu Feșnic the referee.

Andy Robertson had a header in the 87th minute. Andraz Sporar had an early sight of goal for the hosts. The second half is why Bijol is talking about fitness at Hampden, and why Cesar wants the defensive block to hold for the full 90 rather than for 45. The same 90 minutes is why a low-event rematch is the honest forecast: both sides have now gone through a four-game window in which goals have been scarce when the opponent is organised, and the first meeting never found one.

Scotland Have Never Lost to Slovenia

The fixture itself does not support underdog language. Scotland have played Slovenia six times and have two wins and four draws, scoring seven and conceding three. Slovenia have not beaten them.

SCOTLAND AGAINST SLOVENIA

The 2017 home win in Glasgow, watched by 20,435, is the only previous Hampden meeting that produced a goal. The 2004 opener at the same ground was another 0-0. If Cesar’s players do produce the night he is asking for, it would be Slovenia’s first win in the series, on the ground where Scotland have taken four points from two previous visits and never lost.

Gilmour Closes in on 50 Caps

Billy Gilmour joined Pocognoli for media duties on 5 October, in line for his 50th cap against Slovenia. “Yeah, 50 caps, hopefully (on Tuesday),” he said. “So excitement but overall it is another game, hopefully a good game and a win.” He still wants the ball, still wants to play, and still does not sell himself as a duelist. “I’m not the strongest or the biggest so I try and stay away from all that.”

The Scottish FA’s team account posted the matchday graphic on the morning of 6 October: 19:45 at Barclays Hampden, tickets still on sale.

Matchday 4️⃣

🆚 Scotland v Slovenia
🏆 UEFA Nations League
⏰ 7.45pm
🏟️ @BarclaysHampden
🎟️ https://t.co/ay7oj2U05X
📺 Live on @BBCScotland & @BBCiPlayer
➡️ Preview: https://t.co/RHjM65Mfoq#SCOSVN pic.twitter.com/BjvStsQTpw

— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) October 6, 2026

Gilmour’s milestone sits inside a window that started with a World Cup hangover. Scotland beat Haiti 1-0 in the summer, then lost 1-0 to Morocco and 0-3 to Brazil, and Clarke’s time ended there. Slovenia never reached that tournament. Cesar, who had been Kek’s assistant through Euro 2024 and had already run the senior side unbeaten in five games as a stand-in, including a 2-0 friendly win over Portugal, now brings a disciplined block to a ground where Scotland still owe their new coach a first home win.

November still has Scotland hosting North Macedonia on 13 November and visiting Switzerland on 16 November, with Slovenia hosting the Swiss and then going to Skopje. Second place, and the March play-off that comes with it, will not be settled at Hampden. The order of the two teams on four points can be.